Black Sails 2.05
Feb. 22nd, 2015 11:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakI KNEW IT.
I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT. Allow me to feel exceedingly smug, because in all the pro reviews I've read, the reviewers have been assuming the James McGraw/Future Flint-Thomas Hamilton-Miranda situation would be heading towards Hamilton finding out James and Miranda had an affair and the two running away because of that. Whereas yours truly paid attention to the fact that the relationship the flashbacks had been giving the most emphasis towards building was the one between James Not-Yet-Flint and Thomas Hamilton, not James and Miranda (though Miranda Not Yet Mrs. Barlow in s2 both in past and present has become far more fleshed out and interesting a character, more about her later). And I've posted the reviews to prove it here. So yes, I was absolutely crowing during this episode's flashbacks, when it turned out that instead of a cheating wife & her lover storyline, we had a "three people who love each other in every sense" storyline. Miranda wasn't a "cheating wife" because Thomas had always known, and because they had a mutually non-monogamous marriage while loving each other deeply. The great realisation wasn't Thomas Hamilton discovering the Miranda/James affair but James figuring out he was completely in love with Thomas. THANK YOU SHOW.
Also, it makes sense and jives with so much previously established. The idealistic Nassau Utopia project, first version, collapses because Thomas Hamilton's dastardly father and the admirality use the knowledge of this threesome arrangement to throw Future Flint out of the service and lock up Thomas as a madman, with the family name preserved by telling the public he went mad with grief over being cheated on by his wife and best friend. BTW, both Miranda and Flint in the present assume Thomas is now dead, but now I have to ask: IS HE? Or is he still locked up as a madman? Because right here and now I invoke the tv law of "no onscreen death, no body = survival" and declare we might see Thomas Hamilton again, though not soon - perhaps in a season ending cliffhanger? Then there's the way Flint freaked out about Miranda giving a wounded Richard Guthrie this copy of Marcus Aurelius to read in s1, which makes so much sense if you know it was a present to him by Thomas, complete with inscription. And Silver's observation last episode - that Flint, for all his ruthlessness, does care what people think of him - is repeated here by Miranda's observation that a part of him is still ashamed of having loved Thomas because he couldn't squash that. Not that I think Flint's refutal - that what he's really ashamed of is not having saved Thomas - is wrong, either; I think both are true.
You could complain about visual double standards, that as opposed to the complete nudity in f/f scenes, both men are wearing most of their clothes in the montage where they're both lying on a bed, and that we get "only" a passionate kiss between them as a sexual activity whereas with two female characters, you get explicit sex. And there is something in that. But still. The show has just committed to actively showing male characters as well as female characters bisexual, and since Flint isn't just any male character but actually the leading man of the show, this means: the top pirate is bi and the tragic love affair in his past which is still motivating him was with another man.
Now, re: Miranda, by showing her as loving and openly non-monogamous - and also smart (she figures out the way their opponents will use the Thomas/James part of their situation ahead of time even if Future Flint doesn't listen to her warning) the show also solves the apparant contradictions of her, and hers and Flint's relationship in the present. Her statement to Eleanor in the past episode where she says she was present when Flint's demons were born, but none of them are about her. Her present day plan of how to solve Flint having manoeuvred himself into a Phyrric standoff might or might not work; as Flint points out, the Ashe of the present hangs even people fencing pirate goods and has changed from the Ashe who was Thomas' friend. But it's certainly worth a try. So I hope that once he's finished fighting with Vane in the episode's cliffhanger, Flint will go for it.
In other storylines: the Eleanor and Richard Guthrie scenes certainly flesh out that father and daughter relationship, but I do hope Eleanor won't fall for the "I'm proud of you" conclusion; she should ask Mr. Scott about how trusting Guthrie worked out for him last season (Scott ended as a slave again and only got free because Flint captured the ship in question). John Silver and Billy Bones come to an impasse re: what Billy will tell the crew - and thanks to Randall, who continues to be priceless caustic comic relief, killing Billy isn't an option - but as opposed to Flint & Vane, Silver doesn't have a macho ego problem of needing to square off till the finish, so he takes the gamble of letting Billy free anyway. Before that, we get a lot of quotable lines, like Billy's observation that given his own fate and that of Mr. Gates, Silver appointing himself to the position of Flint's sidekick is either very stupid or very brave, Silver's statement that he doesn't have Gates' and formerly Billy's problem of believing in Flint and then feeling let down, because he simply sees Flint as the matter to an end, and so on. Silver's comment that being liked is almost as useful as being feared; mature, Treasure Island Silver is a master in both, though he usually tries the former first before moving on to the later.
Jack-Anne-Max: moves on from similar scenes as requested, but not in a way that's good for poor Anne. The show loves its irony: after all the Jack fretting about Max driving a wedge between him and Anne and turning Anne against him, he turns out to be the one to betray Anne, not for sexual reasons but because his new crew will except either Max as a shareholder or Anne as a crew member, but not both (because of Anne being the one who actually killed the guys from Vane's crew last season), and Max has made herself quintessential through all the information gathering she provided. Argh.
Vane is hardly in the episode, except for one scene in the middle where he decides to solve his problem the way he did the last one, by killing the leader, i.e. Flint, and the final cliffhanger where he tries to do just that. Now since Flint's life is prequel protected (he's not going to die until he's collected a big treasure and an even more fearsome reputation), I'm not betting on Vane, but on the other hand, I can't see the show killing off Vane this easily. Since they're in Eleanor's house, my guess is that Eleanor and/or Miranda will interrupt before the guys can kill each other, and then an enraged Ashe will show up (remember, Vane send his ransom note before the siege started) with several war ships in tow, causing a shifting of allegiances yet again.
Lastly: okay, now that we've established Flint is bi, do I suddenly spot the possibility of canon Flint/Silver in the future?
ETA: aaaand a quick look at the comments to what reviews (which are totally surprised about the James/Thomas reveal but not disapproving) are already posted (at IGN and TvFanatic) tells me a lot of fanboys are enraged about "every show" suddenly making "everyone gay" and why this happens to their tough leading man. These are of course the same people who enjoyed the Eleanor/Max and Max/Anne scenes. Fanboys, why so predictable? Also, in which 'verse are you living where every show has gayness, because I sure would like a glimpse?
Son of ETA: I so wish this show were viewed by more people in lj and dw-dom, because it occured to me that the reactions (as posted in comments to articles) to this latest episode are a sociological experiment in fandom, running. But it's impossible to discuss in an unspoilery way, so under an cut I go again.
It's a common (and not untrue) complaint in fandom: a film or tv has a relationship build up that, were it between a man and a woman, would be turned romantic, but because it's between two men, it doesn't, though there might be jokes and innuendo. And another often heard complaint: why, if a character's sexuality is not discussed on screen and he or she doesn't define it, should we automatically assume it's straight by default? And yet another: the rarity of bisexual or gay leading men, though by now the occasional bi or gay male supporting character isn't that big a surprise anymore.
Well, Black Sails has just shown that its leading male character fell in love with another man, a relationship that was indeed build up over half the season in flashbacks. (And the previous, first season gave at least two hints I can think of.) The surprise in the professional reviews is telling, because, as mentioned above, this did not come out of the blue at all - they were just train not to read increasing closeness between two men as a romantic build up, and definitely not if one of them is in the present day action a ruthless pirate. (And in this fictional universe will eventually become the most feared pirate of them all.) Spartacus had gay male supporting characters who were an important part of the overall story (and, gasp, two of them got a happy ending, which the rest of the cast didn't because history), but Spartacus himself was presented as straight. The Borgias had an important gay supporting character, Michelotto, but while there was arguably subtext between him and Cesare, it never became on screen show text. If we move from the trashy-yet-compelling to the critically praised historical shows, Deadwood did include f/f and m/m, but the two male leads, Seth Bullock and Al Swearangen, definitely were straight. Now the upset commenters to the articles I've seen don't evoke other historical shows. Instead, one complained "imagine if Dexter or Walter White had been suddenly revealed as gay!"
Okay, a minute for the facepalm. (Sure, Dexter can be a serial killer and Walter White can build a drug empire and ruin the lives of everyone around him, but at least they never have sex with another man!) Though presumably this isn't how they meant, I can see benefits in Dexter and Walt not being presented as bi or gay - again, Dexter is a serial killer, and "gay serial killer" is a cliché the world doesn't need more presentations of. As for Walter White, the Walt and Jesse relationship is at the emotional center of the show as it is, and it does turn emotionally abusive in the show's later stages. Add a sexual dimension, and again, you could end up evoking bad clichés by the dozens. (Especially since neither show would have balanced this by presenting positive same sex relationships between regulars at the samee time.)
But Black Sails already, and from the pilot onwards, has shown first two, then three of its female regular characters as bisexual, and having sex with each other. Given that nearly all male characters of the show are seamen, and bearing Churchill's famous quip about the British navy being run on rum, sodomy and lashes in mind, shouldn't the surprise rather be it took the show so long to confirm at least one male regular is bi? Instead, and no, I'm not really surprised by this, you get "I'm not homophobic, I have gay friends, but why oh why did they have to ruin Flint by making him gay?" type of comments. (Flint: can kill a man who trusted him and make his living as a pirate with all that implies in the present, and started a damaging mini war on the island because of male pride, that's all cool. But revealing he had, not just a one night stand but a long relationship with another man? HORROR.)
It's hard not to conclude that viewer (or at least commenter) gender factors in there, since the more likely lj and dw (and tumblr, but I mostly avoid tumblr) reaction would be to post gifs of Toby Stephens snogging Rupert Penry-Jones instead. But be that as it may: luckily, Black Sails has already been renewed for a third season, so the show doesn't have to fight for its existence (yet), should it lose a part of its viewing public because of this reveal. Which I still hope won't be the case, because this is the first time I can think of where an historical adventure show goes in such a direction with its leading man, and I really don't want it to be the last.
I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT. Allow me to feel exceedingly smug, because in all the pro reviews I've read, the reviewers have been assuming the James McGraw/Future Flint-Thomas Hamilton-Miranda situation would be heading towards Hamilton finding out James and Miranda had an affair and the two running away because of that. Whereas yours truly paid attention to the fact that the relationship the flashbacks had been giving the most emphasis towards building was the one between James Not-Yet-Flint and Thomas Hamilton, not James and Miranda (though Miranda Not Yet Mrs. Barlow in s2 both in past and present has become far more fleshed out and interesting a character, more about her later). And I've posted the reviews to prove it here. So yes, I was absolutely crowing during this episode's flashbacks, when it turned out that instead of a cheating wife & her lover storyline, we had a "three people who love each other in every sense" storyline. Miranda wasn't a "cheating wife" because Thomas had always known, and because they had a mutually non-monogamous marriage while loving each other deeply. The great realisation wasn't Thomas Hamilton discovering the Miranda/James affair but James figuring out he was completely in love with Thomas. THANK YOU SHOW.
Also, it makes sense and jives with so much previously established. The idealistic Nassau Utopia project, first version, collapses because Thomas Hamilton's dastardly father and the admirality use the knowledge of this threesome arrangement to throw Future Flint out of the service and lock up Thomas as a madman, with the family name preserved by telling the public he went mad with grief over being cheated on by his wife and best friend. BTW, both Miranda and Flint in the present assume Thomas is now dead, but now I have to ask: IS HE? Or is he still locked up as a madman? Because right here and now I invoke the tv law of "no onscreen death, no body = survival" and declare we might see Thomas Hamilton again, though not soon - perhaps in a season ending cliffhanger? Then there's the way Flint freaked out about Miranda giving a wounded Richard Guthrie this copy of Marcus Aurelius to read in s1, which makes so much sense if you know it was a present to him by Thomas, complete with inscription. And Silver's observation last episode - that Flint, for all his ruthlessness, does care what people think of him - is repeated here by Miranda's observation that a part of him is still ashamed of having loved Thomas because he couldn't squash that. Not that I think Flint's refutal - that what he's really ashamed of is not having saved Thomas - is wrong, either; I think both are true.
You could complain about visual double standards, that as opposed to the complete nudity in f/f scenes, both men are wearing most of their clothes in the montage where they're both lying on a bed, and that we get "only" a passionate kiss between them as a sexual activity whereas with two female characters, you get explicit sex. And there is something in that. But still. The show has just committed to actively showing male characters as well as female characters bisexual, and since Flint isn't just any male character but actually the leading man of the show, this means: the top pirate is bi and the tragic love affair in his past which is still motivating him was with another man.
Now, re: Miranda, by showing her as loving and openly non-monogamous - and also smart (she figures out the way their opponents will use the Thomas/James part of their situation ahead of time even if Future Flint doesn't listen to her warning) the show also solves the apparant contradictions of her, and hers and Flint's relationship in the present. Her statement to Eleanor in the past episode where she says she was present when Flint's demons were born, but none of them are about her. Her present day plan of how to solve Flint having manoeuvred himself into a Phyrric standoff might or might not work; as Flint points out, the Ashe of the present hangs even people fencing pirate goods and has changed from the Ashe who was Thomas' friend. But it's certainly worth a try. So I hope that once he's finished fighting with Vane in the episode's cliffhanger, Flint will go for it.
In other storylines: the Eleanor and Richard Guthrie scenes certainly flesh out that father and daughter relationship, but I do hope Eleanor won't fall for the "I'm proud of you" conclusion; she should ask Mr. Scott about how trusting Guthrie worked out for him last season (Scott ended as a slave again and only got free because Flint captured the ship in question). John Silver and Billy Bones come to an impasse re: what Billy will tell the crew - and thanks to Randall, who continues to be priceless caustic comic relief, killing Billy isn't an option - but as opposed to Flint & Vane, Silver doesn't have a macho ego problem of needing to square off till the finish, so he takes the gamble of letting Billy free anyway. Before that, we get a lot of quotable lines, like Billy's observation that given his own fate and that of Mr. Gates, Silver appointing himself to the position of Flint's sidekick is either very stupid or very brave, Silver's statement that he doesn't have Gates' and formerly Billy's problem of believing in Flint and then feeling let down, because he simply sees Flint as the matter to an end, and so on. Silver's comment that being liked is almost as useful as being feared; mature, Treasure Island Silver is a master in both, though he usually tries the former first before moving on to the later.
Jack-Anne-Max: moves on from similar scenes as requested, but not in a way that's good for poor Anne. The show loves its irony: after all the Jack fretting about Max driving a wedge between him and Anne and turning Anne against him, he turns out to be the one to betray Anne, not for sexual reasons but because his new crew will except either Max as a shareholder or Anne as a crew member, but not both (because of Anne being the one who actually killed the guys from Vane's crew last season), and Max has made herself quintessential through all the information gathering she provided. Argh.
Vane is hardly in the episode, except for one scene in the middle where he decides to solve his problem the way he did the last one, by killing the leader, i.e. Flint, and the final cliffhanger where he tries to do just that. Now since Flint's life is prequel protected (he's not going to die until he's collected a big treasure and an even more fearsome reputation), I'm not betting on Vane, but on the other hand, I can't see the show killing off Vane this easily. Since they're in Eleanor's house, my guess is that Eleanor and/or Miranda will interrupt before the guys can kill each other, and then an enraged Ashe will show up (remember, Vane send his ransom note before the siege started) with several war ships in tow, causing a shifting of allegiances yet again.
Lastly: okay, now that we've established Flint is bi, do I suddenly spot the possibility of canon Flint/Silver in the future?
ETA: aaaand a quick look at the comments to what reviews (which are totally surprised about the James/Thomas reveal but not disapproving) are already posted (at IGN and TvFanatic) tells me a lot of fanboys are enraged about "every show" suddenly making "everyone gay" and why this happens to their tough leading man. These are of course the same people who enjoyed the Eleanor/Max and Max/Anne scenes. Fanboys, why so predictable? Also, in which 'verse are you living where every show has gayness, because I sure would like a glimpse?
Son of ETA: I so wish this show were viewed by more people in lj and dw-dom, because it occured to me that the reactions (as posted in comments to articles) to this latest episode are a sociological experiment in fandom, running. But it's impossible to discuss in an unspoilery way, so under an cut I go again.
It's a common (and not untrue) complaint in fandom: a film or tv has a relationship build up that, were it between a man and a woman, would be turned romantic, but because it's between two men, it doesn't, though there might be jokes and innuendo. And another often heard complaint: why, if a character's sexuality is not discussed on screen and he or she doesn't define it, should we automatically assume it's straight by default? And yet another: the rarity of bisexual or gay leading men, though by now the occasional bi or gay male supporting character isn't that big a surprise anymore.
Well, Black Sails has just shown that its leading male character fell in love with another man, a relationship that was indeed build up over half the season in flashbacks. (And the previous, first season gave at least two hints I can think of.) The surprise in the professional reviews is telling, because, as mentioned above, this did not come out of the blue at all - they were just train not to read increasing closeness between two men as a romantic build up, and definitely not if one of them is in the present day action a ruthless pirate. (And in this fictional universe will eventually become the most feared pirate of them all.) Spartacus had gay male supporting characters who were an important part of the overall story (and, gasp, two of them got a happy ending, which the rest of the cast didn't because history), but Spartacus himself was presented as straight. The Borgias had an important gay supporting character, Michelotto, but while there was arguably subtext between him and Cesare, it never became on screen show text. If we move from the trashy-yet-compelling to the critically praised historical shows, Deadwood did include f/f and m/m, but the two male leads, Seth Bullock and Al Swearangen, definitely were straight. Now the upset commenters to the articles I've seen don't evoke other historical shows. Instead, one complained "imagine if Dexter or Walter White had been suddenly revealed as gay!"
Okay, a minute for the facepalm. (Sure, Dexter can be a serial killer and Walter White can build a drug empire and ruin the lives of everyone around him, but at least they never have sex with another man!) Though presumably this isn't how they meant, I can see benefits in Dexter and Walt not being presented as bi or gay - again, Dexter is a serial killer, and "gay serial killer" is a cliché the world doesn't need more presentations of. As for Walter White, the Walt and Jesse relationship is at the emotional center of the show as it is, and it does turn emotionally abusive in the show's later stages. Add a sexual dimension, and again, you could end up evoking bad clichés by the dozens. (Especially since neither show would have balanced this by presenting positive same sex relationships between regulars at the samee time.)
But Black Sails already, and from the pilot onwards, has shown first two, then three of its female regular characters as bisexual, and having sex with each other. Given that nearly all male characters of the show are seamen, and bearing Churchill's famous quip about the British navy being run on rum, sodomy and lashes in mind, shouldn't the surprise rather be it took the show so long to confirm at least one male regular is bi? Instead, and no, I'm not really surprised by this, you get "I'm not homophobic, I have gay friends, but why oh why did they have to ruin Flint by making him gay?" type of comments. (Flint: can kill a man who trusted him and make his living as a pirate with all that implies in the present, and started a damaging mini war on the island because of male pride, that's all cool. But revealing he had, not just a one night stand but a long relationship with another man? HORROR.)
It's hard not to conclude that viewer (or at least commenter) gender factors in there, since the more likely lj and dw (and tumblr, but I mostly avoid tumblr) reaction would be to post gifs of Toby Stephens snogging Rupert Penry-Jones instead. But be that as it may: luckily, Black Sails has already been renewed for a third season, so the show doesn't have to fight for its existence (yet), should it lose a part of its viewing public because of this reveal. Which I still hope won't be the case, because this is the first time I can think of where an historical adventure show goes in such a direction with its leading man, and I really don't want it to be the last.
no subject
Date: 2015-02-22 03:32 pm (UTC)In relation to Dexter, the show did occasionally do gags based around Dexter's attempts to cover up his serial killing being reminiscent of the behaviour of a closeted gay man, which I thought were a bit tasteless.
no subject
Date: 2015-02-22 04:00 pm (UTC)For further hilarity, here's the complete comment by fanboy Bluefalcon90: "The reason I am taken back is because this is actually the main character and to make him gay out of no where is a bit unnecessary. If Walter White or Dexter turned out to be gay half way through season two people would have been like WTF!? as well."
And then there is Carnagate with: "The last thing I think of when I think main character pirate king is pole in mouth. Somehow that makes me crazy? It seemed forced".
Some people really are walking, or rather, posting homophobic clichés...
no subject
Date: 2015-02-22 04:18 pm (UTC)Somebody really hasn't being paying any attention to recent historical scholarship about pirates. Or, of course, stereotypes about professional seamen in British culture for generations...
no subject
Date: 2015-02-22 04:43 pm (UTC)Meanwhile, I loved the comment from actress Claire Paget (who plays Anne Bonny on the show) on the reveal: "I loved it because, obviously, going along with my story line as well, it's just exploring these relationships in this time where gay and lesbian -- it wasn't defined. It still isn't. For some reason, we'd like to define it and put it in boxes nowadays. So I loved that story line and making a male do it for once. We've seen the girl-on-girl stuff and it was time to show that. And, you know, they're at sea. It's like being in the army or in the navy. Of course you're going to create these bonds. It's a generally male society, so it makes total sense. I think it's great and it's brave that they touched on that... because they're these macho guys. To show that side on television with pirates is brave. I was very proud of them for putting that in."
Toby Stephens, who plays Flint, says he was told the entire backstory from the start, and played the character with it in mind. Cue fanboy crying of "But Flint was BADASS!" Which says it all.
no subject
Date: 2015-02-22 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-22 07:51 pm (UTC)(If he ever googles "batman kissing superman", he has a whole new subsection of DC fanfic to discover...)
By now I suspect trolling, in a "can these people be real?" way, but then again, they probably are...
no subject
Date: 2015-02-22 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-22 11:35 pm (UTC)Guys - I think it's mostly guys - like this are everywhere, sadly. There is a podcast about a fictional radio show, Night Vale, that has gained quite a bit of a following over the last two years. The main character is the moderator of the radio show and in the first episode, a group of scientists arrives in town, lead by one Carlos. For anyone who isn't willfully ignorant, it must be clear by the way he talks about him that the main character has a huge crush on Carlos. I mean he constantly talks about his wonderful, gorgeous hair, and his great eyes, and the fascinating way he talks about science, and... you get the picture. It took somewhere around 30 episodes until they had their first date, and people actually complained that main character was suddenly turned gay, and how that "ruined the whole show." *eyeroll*
no subject
Date: 2015-02-23 02:51 am (UTC)I hadn't heard that people were upset when Cecil/Carlos became canon. I sort of just thought everyone knew. I mean, about the third thing Cecil says about Carols is, "I fell in love instantly."
no subject
Date: 2015-02-23 10:45 am (UTC)And I really don't know how anyone could miss that, really. I think you have to have a very strong conviction that a protagonist is straight by default not to notice. For me, it was mostly a question if they make it explicit or not - I've become jaded by years of "almost" text - and I rejoiced when they did.
no subject
Date: 2015-02-23 06:41 am (UTC)The phenomenon itself is well known to me (wasn't there also a section of the Game of Thrones tv series fandom shocked when Remly/Loras got screentime in s2, in pointed contrast to the reaction to the scenes in Littlefinger's bordello?), but it was never so glaringly hypocritical as in this case, because Black Sails really featured (explicit) female same sex pairings from the pilot onwards. You literally can't watch this show without encountering some interaction (verbal or physical) between people of the same gender who share(d) a bed (and other places) in every single episode. So to object the first time it's two men really can have only one reason.
(This morning when I looked the wailing fanboys have only gotten more vile over night. A new tactic is to say they'd be fine with sex but hate "relationship drama" on their pirate show, therefore, giving the main pirate a meaningful romantic relationship with another man is wrong and they'd object just as much if it were a woman. Strangely, the show never has been without "relationship drama", either. Flint's main rival for Most Feared Pirate top spot has been obsessively in love with the local female kingpin (who has very mixed feelings about him) from the pilot onwards, their up and down relationship got considerable screentime, and again, those same fanboys didn't object. And then there are the women involved in the on screen same sex pairings, who, gasp, do other stuff than having sex with each other, with the sex being part of their, well, relationship drama. In conclusion, the "This ruins the show for me!!!" crowd really could not be more obvious as to their motivation.
no subject
Date: 2015-02-23 10:53 am (UTC)(I've been out of GOT fandom for a while, because at the end my irritation at the more annoying fans prevailed, but I'm curious how they reacted to Oberyn Martell, who is pretty omnisexual, and actually got to snog a male prostitute. I hope a lot of them cried.)
And yes, that is so strange, how same sex couples only become uncomfortable once it is not two comely women. (Though I bet female slash fans disturb these guys, too. Nothing worse than women doing the same thing like men, only over men.)
Relationship drama "ruining the show": oh, that reminds me of concern trolling again. I'm watching Teen Wolf, and last season, one of the guys who is part of the most popular slash couple got a girlfriend. She was really popular before, but now people suddenly hated her, and got as far as claiming that she was reduced to being "just" a love interest. Did I mention that she only appeared two times in the previous season, and got much more development in the season where she was his girlfriend? Right. Got worse, too, because she is African-American. No racism here, though! Bigots, they come in all forms.
no subject
Date: 2015-02-23 11:27 am (UTC)Yeah, keep trolling.
Your Teen Wolf tale reminds me sadly of Merlin fandom in season 2 when Gwen and Arthur started to be a couple. Suddenly you got all the complaints about how stronger a character Gwen had been in season 1 and how she now was "just a love interest". (Not that you can't critisize a lot of Merlin the show, including sometimes the writing for Gwen, but in this case, s2 gave her more, not less to do, and she was far more self assured and fighting for her opinions than in s1, so just maaaaaaayyybe the true objection was the part where one half of the big slash couple of the show fell for her.)
no subject
Date: 2015-02-23 12:55 pm (UTC)Merlin: sounds exactly the same. And yeah, Teen Wolf is hardly perfect, or the best written show ever, but parts of the fandom... I don't think I've met such a bunch of whiny, entitled and ignorant brats before - and as you know, my experience includes Buffy fans. And they are of course all about representation! Unless it comes to characters not said pairing getting the spotlight, or a WOC becoming the girlfriend of one. Right.